Gestern schrieb mir der Kollege Ghazi Salahuddin von The News International aus Karatschi: „Die Lage ist besorgniserregend. Musharraf schlägt vor allem gegen die Medien los. Aber ich glaube, sein Coup schlägt schon gegen ihn selbst zurück. Allerdings kann diese Entwicklung zu noch mehr Brutalität führen.“
Der Afghanistan- und Pakistan-Experte Barnett Rubin (New York University) hat sich in den letzten Tagen in Islambad aufgehalten und von dort live gebloggt.
Barnett Rubin Foto: CFR
In einem letzten Post beschreibt er die Stimmung in der Hauptstadt und liefert Hintergründe für den Coup des Generals. Die pakistanische Zivilgesellschaft ist erstaunt und enttäuscht von der laschen Reaktion des Westens auf die Beraubung ihrer Rechte.
Rubin beschreibt die Situation in der Nord West Provinz in dramatischen Farben. Dort ist ein Emirat der Taliban errichtet worden:
Let me describe the situation on the ground to which Musharraf has responded by suspending the constitution, arresting several senior judges, and detaining hundreds of non-violent democratic political leaders. According to sources in the Northwest Frontier Province, the Taliban (Afghan and Pakistani) have established an Islamic Emirate centered in Mirali, North Waziristan, the home base of Commander Jalaluddin Haqqani (Afghan Jadran from Khost) and his son Sirajuddin. This Emirate acknowledges Mullah Muhammad Umar as Amir, but it is mainly run by the Haqqanis, with the Pakistani Mehsud leader, Baitulah Mehsud of South Waziristan, as its main public face. The Emirate has established structures in all seven Tribal Agencies, though it is strongest in North and South Waziristan and has not penetrated the Shi’a areas of upper Kurram. Besides Pakistani and Afghan Pashtuns, its forces include the Uzbeks displaced from South Waziristan and others from the former USSR (collectively if not accurately called „Chechens“), whom the local people accuse of the greatest brutalities, such as the beheading of prisoners.
From these bases, the Emirate has launched its offensive in Swat and has infiltrated around Peshawar from several directions. Recently Taliban appeared in Qisakhani Bazaar in the old city of Peshawar and ordered traders to remove „un-Islamic“ posters. There was no reaction from the police or administration. There are dozens of Taliban FM stations broadcasting calls to jihad in both the tribal agencies and the „settled“ (administered) areas of NWFP. Not one of them has been shut down; instead the martial law regime has blocked transmissions of liberal cable television stations and blocked the Blackberry network used by the political elite.
Many if not most of my Pakistani interlocutors do not believe that the Pakistani military is using either martial law or U.S. assistance for „counter-terrorism.“ They believe it is using it to perpetuate its own power in the service of a national security project that serves neither Pakistan nor Afghanistan and is doing great harm to both.